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Editor’s Comment By Patrick O’Leary The South African truck driver fraternity is under siege in terms of on-road risks that have escalated dramatically over the past years and now pose life-threatening risks to truck drivers all over the country. “In

Editor’s Comment By Patrick O’Leary and Max Braun I share this month’s Editor’s Comment with my colleague, Max Braun, on a subject which needs urgent attention. I’ll kick off first. There is a vexing yet unresolved issue hanging over the

What do golf and trucking have in common? I started thinking about this when I attended the launch of the new Mercedes-Benz Actros held at the Oubaai Golf Resort in Herold’s Bay. The golf course was designed by ace golfer

The month of April 2018 will go down as one of the worst ever experienced in the history of the trucking industry in South Africa. It’s been a month of hell where, in a series of vicious attacks, we saw

Wow! Have you ever experienced so much change in such a short space of time? I have been sort of sitting on the side-lines enjoying the trucking industry while watching the wider developments as they unfold – and have been

By Patrick O’Leary Well that’s it. The end of 2017. I recall the words of Queen Elizabeth when, during a speech on November 24, 1992, she said: “1992 is not a year on which I shall look back with undiluted

Editor’s Comment The trucking industry is truly a beacon of light, hope and encouragement in the stormy sea of South Africa that has become heavily polluted with the mountains of garbage constantly and irresponsibly disposed of from the luxury-liner called

Editor’s Comment A recent story run by FleetWatch in our weekly newsletter headed ‘Is this the end of the IRTE?’ and repeated in this edition on page 12 because of its importance, resulted in some pretty active email exchanges between

President Jacob Zuma and his bunch of erstwhile followers – read benefactors – have their heads far up their backsides and the problem is that to them, the view looks good from there. In that narrow channel, they are warm,

More than 2.3-million kilometres and still going strong

2017-06-29 10:17

“Two Bar” is the fitting nickname for Namlog’s Hino 500-Series 1324 freight carrier that has covered more than 2.3-million kilometres since it was purchased new in 2009. It certainly carries its age well and does not look like a truck that has covered a distance equal to going around the earth almost 60 times!

Amazingly the Hino has covered this distance without any major mechanical problems. The bottom end of the engine is original, as is the gearbox and rear axle. The engine had the cylinder head reconditioned and some wear items such as the clutch plate have been replaced, as has the starter and alternator.

Importantly, this Hino truck still looks favourable in the Namlog financial books and there is no plan to replace it at this stage. Average fuel consumption is about 22.5l/100km which is acceptable for this type of operation where the average load is about five tons. In fact, budget has been provided for a respray of the cab during 2017.

This particular Hino started its working life running loads on the Durban-Johannesburg route for about five years and was then switched to operating in the Gauteng area, where it is still used. Servicing took place every 30 000km when it was on the long-distance route and the interval has been cut to every 20 000km for the shorter runs.

There are no designated drivers for the Namlog trucks, but the company is very strict on driving standards and insists on regular training.

Namlog is one of the major contractors involved with moving Toyota, Lexus, and Hino parts from the distribution centre in Ekurhuleni to the network of dealers in South Africa, Namibia, and Botswana.

“These operations all function on the Just-In-Time principle with limited time windows for collection and delivery so we need reliable trucks above all else,” says Albie Greyvenstein, Namlog’s National Fleet Manager.

“All our trucks are serviced by the OEM dealers as we feel this gives us added peace of mind. In the case of the Hinos, the servicing is carried out by Hino East Rand and we are happy with the relationship we’ve built up with this dealership over the years.”

The Namlog fleet manager is very particular about tyre care and each truck has its wheel alignment checked every 15 000km and corrected if necessary. This strategy pays off and one of the Hino 1626 freighters had its first tyre change after travelling 350 000km operating in Gauteng.

Namlog has more than 60 Hino trucks in its fleet and recently added a further seven, four being a 714 automatic and two 1326 freighters all fitted with tautliner bodies as well as a 1018 with a drop side body. The company is in the process of replacing some of the delivery vans in the fleet with Hino 300-Series trucks with automatic transmission.

Usually Namlog considers replacing its trucks when they have covered between 700 000 and 800 000km as they start costing money in terms of repairs, so the Two Bar Hino is very much an exception to the rule and is now on its way to covering three million kilometres.

Namlog (the name is derived from Namibia Logistics) was founded in 2002 and has grown into a leading supply chain group, made up of four companies with operations in South Africa, Namibia, and Botswana. The company has its head office in Johannesburg. The other companies in the group are Mellets Transport in Kuruman, SLI in Windhoek and Gentex in Gaborone.

The group employs more than 500 people and manages numerous distribution centres on behalf of global and blue-chip clients through long term, mutually beneficial partnerships

FleetWatch was launched in 1993 initially as a fleet risk management journal, and has since evolved into a trucking magazine covering all aspects of the trucking industry with the primary focus on the issues facing modern day truckers.